Kevin Ollie and UConn are fighting over documents. Here’s what it means and what happens next.

The Connecticut state Freedom of Information Commission on Wednesday ordered UConn to hand over to Kevin Ollie thousands of pages of records that the former men’s basketball coach first requested last year.

Ollie initially asked for the documents in the wake of his firing and UConn’s refusal to pay the $10 million left on the coach’s contract. UConn contested that request, and the sides have debated the issue over a period of months in front of the FOI Commission. An FOI hearing officer recommended in January that UConn be required to give Ollie the documents, and the commission accepted that recommendation Wednesday, with only slight amendments.

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UConn has already announced its intention to appeal the decision to Superior Court.

What documents does Ollie want?

Ollie has asked for a vast collection of documents related directly or tangentially to his firing. His request includes records related to UConn’s justification for dismissing him, the hiring of new coach Dan Hurley, disciplinary actions taken against former coach Jim Calhoun, alleged NCAA violations by any athletic program at UConn and more.

UConn says it has already submitted nearly 4,000 pages of documents to Ollie’s lawyers, as well as another 1,250 to the FOI hearing officer for an in-camera review, while withholding others.

In his recommendation, FOI hearing officer Matthew Streeter accused UConn of a lackluster response to Ollie’s requests and ordered the university to undergo an FOI training session.

How does this fight relate to Ollie and UConn’s other legal battles?

Ollie and UConn have clashed on several different legal fronts over the past nine months.

The coach and his lawyers presumably hope to use the requested documents to bolster their case in salary grievance arbitration, which will ultimately determine whether the school must pay Ollie the $10 million that remained on his contract.

Ollie’s request for documents related to discipline against Calhoun would also seem to dovetail with his desire to file a racial discrimination complaint with a state or federal body. Ollie has alleged in court filings that he was treated differently from Calhoun because he is black and Calhoun is white. Calhoun remained at UConn after facing NCAA violations somewhat similar to those Ollie has been accused of.

In December, Ollie sued UConn claiming that the university had illegally deterred him from filing that complaint. A federal judge dismissed the suit in early February on procedural grounds.

What happens now?

UConn announced Wednesday that it plans to appeal the FOI commission’s decision to the court system. There, the school will again argue that it does not have to turn over all the requested documents.

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If the courts uphold the FOI commission’s ruling, UConn will be forced to give Ollie all the documents he asked for, which could aid the coach’s chances in arbitration and in any other forum in which he plans to take on his former employer.

What has UConn argued?

UConn claims that turning over the full trove of documents would violate the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, which protects the privacy of student education records.

On Wednesday, the FOI commission accepted into evidence a letter from the U.S. Department of Education asserting that sharing the documents would violate FERPA. Although the letter appears to support the university’s opinion, Ollie’s lawyers will likely argue that it was issued under misleading pretenses, with a misunderstanding of key facts.

How the court views that letter could determine whether Ollie eventually receives the documents he wants.